


The painfully cheesy truth

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: How to woo your local barista [41]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, Barista Raphael, Demisexual Raphael Santiago, Domestic Fluff, Drunkenness, Established Relationship, Homoromantic Raphael Santiago, Idiots in Love, M/M, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 09:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11848491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: “You definitely look decent,” Simon commented and he couldn’t even feel embarrassed by how breathless he sounded because the stunning view of Raphael literally managed to take his breath away. “Why do I have to wear a tie and you don’t?”Raphael only quirked an eyebrow at him while reaching out to unfasten the tie and redo the knot from scratch. His fingers were steady and clearly knew what they were doing, easily sliding the silky material of the tie into a perfect knot before smoothing it down over the almost black looking dark blue of the shirt Simon was wearing.“Because I say so.”





	The painfully cheesy truth

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, yeah, I actually managed to get something done. Sorry that everything is slow lately and it probably won't change anytime soon because I started an apprenticeship at the beginning of August. The fact that I'm always home late and my anxiety is always on high-alert kinda kills the motivation to write even though I crave it but I just...can't.

“I feel ridiculous and I bet I also look the part,” Simon groused, fiddling with the tie around his neck that refused to sit properly and was still tilted to the side at an odd angle. He frowned when the sound of Raphael snorting in amusement carried over from the hallway, soon followed by the other’s footsteps that indicated he had entered the room but Simon was too focused on his own reflection to pay attention to his boyfriend.

“You would actually look pretty decent if you knew how to tie a tie,” Raphael commented with barely suppressed laughter in his voice before his hands came to rest on his lover’s shoulders to easily spin him around. Simon hoped the other didn’t notice how the breath caught in his chest at the sight of Raphael—the black dress shirt hugged him just right, so did the red pants of the suit and his black hair was artfully styled back.

“You definitely look decent,” Simon commented and he couldn’t even feel embarrassed by how breathless he sounded because the stunning view of Raphael literally managed to take his breath away. “Why do I have to wear a tie and you don’t?”

Raphael only quirked an eyebrow at him while reaching out to unfasten the tie and redo the knot from scratch. His fingers were steady and clearly knew what they were doing, easily sliding the silky material of the tie into a perfect knot before smoothing it down over the almost black looking dark blue of the shirt Simon was wearing.

“Because I say so.”

Simon raised his eyebrows at that and he was about to protest, tell his lover that this wasn’t an actual reason, but the words died on his tongue when he noticed Raphael’s eyes sliding down his body, taking him in with so much appreciation in his dark eyes that Simon forgot what protest even was.

“Come on, love, we have to leave or we’ll be too late and, believe me, nobody wants that,” Raphael said after he was done slowly dragging his gaze back up to Simon’s face, a soft smile settling in the corners of his mouth while his hand absently brushed over the other’s shoulder to get rid of a dust particle or maybe something imaginary, Simon didn’t know.

He watched Raphael grab the shimmering, dark blue jacket from its hanger in the wardrobe and Simon rolled his eyes when his lover offered it for him to slip into but he complied without hesitation, allowed Raphael to help him into the jacket but pushed his hands away when his boyfriend honestly reached for the buttons at the front.

“I am capable of dressing myself, you know?”

“Oh, do you, now?” Raphael stared pointedly at the tie resting against his lover’s chest, lips quirking into a cheeky smirk when Simon swatted at him dismissively.

“Shut it and get your own jacket,” Simon huffed, fumbling a little with the top button before it finally slipped close. His hands ran down over the smooth material of the jacket and he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt this overdressed. Simon knew that it wasn’t exactly possible to be overdressed when wearing a suit to a wedding but he still felt out of place in these clothes. He was glad that Raphael had started dragging him along to the gym quite regularly over the past few months, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t fill out the jacket at the shoulders, seeing as he had borrowed the outfit from his lover.

Raphael shrugged into the deep red jacket of his own suit and adjusted the cuffs before smiling at Simon. “Let’s go or Magnus will have our heads.”

* * *

The ceremony was utterly beautiful and Simon was relieved to see that even Isabelle was tearing up during the vows so he didn’t feel too bad about the tears that had threatened to fall from his own eyes. His fingers had found Raphael’s somewhere in the middle of the ceremony and had stayed entangled with them for the whole time, pressing a little tighter against his lover’s hand when Magnus and Alec _finally_ got to the kiss.

Simon was glad that the part of the best man on Magnus’s side had fallen to Ragnor because it had meant that Raphael was right next to him during the ceremony instead of standing up front, unable to offer Simon a hand to cling to in his mildly emotional state. Not being the best man hadn’t kept Raphael from being all involved in the preparations for this day, though and he was basically radiating pride at how everything went smoothly.

Simon hadn’t been able to resist glancing at his boyfriend a few times during the ceremony and his heart had felt like it was about to beat out of his chest at the utterly fond, rosy-cheeked expression on Raphael’s face who was clearly happy about seeing his best friend finally sealing the deal with the love of his life.

There had been a few moments when Simon had been worried that Alexander might just faint—the guy looked incredibly pale and nervous but as soon as he had reached Magnus after walking down the aisle, their hands intertwining, all of that seemed to have bled out of him.

When the newlyweds kissed and everyone got to their feet to applaud the happy couple, Simon’s cheeks were already hurting from smiling so much and he could feel a single tear sneaking its way down from the corner of his eye.

“Love, are you actually crying?” Raphael’s teasing voice was close enough to his ear to be heard over the applause, warm breath brushing over the shell of Simon’s ear and sending a small shiver down his spine.

“No,” he replied with as much conviction as he was capable of, “I think I’m allergic to the flowers or something.”

Raphael laughed at that, shaking his head with a muttered “Or something” before his hand came up to cup Simon’s face, thumb gently brushing away the wet trail and lingering against the curve of his cheekbone.

Their eyes locked for a moment and Simon’s smile widened while he nuzzled his cheek into Raphael’s warm touch, eyes crinkling at the corners and the noise around them seemed to fade into the background for a moment. Said moment was sadly broken when Izzy nudged Simon’s shoulder to make them aware of the fact that Magnus and Alec were heading to the exit, meaning that they would all leave to head to the venue of the celebration in a bit, after seeing the happy couple to their ride.

* * *

“So, when are you finally going to propose or are you waiting for Scarlett to ask you?”

Raphael rolled his eyes at Magnus who tipped his flute of champagne towards him, a cheeky grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Alexander was currently off dancing with his sister and Simon was god-knows-where so his best friend had apparently decided to nag Raphael a little while they stood at the side of the venue, watching the other wedding guests drink, talk and dance—some were already noticeably tipsy, Magnus included, and Raphael was surprised he felt as comfortable and relaxed as he did, despite the celebrations having gone on for a few hours already.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll ask him the day you finally get around to use his real name,” Raphael replied, a teasing challenge in his eyes and Magnus laughed.

“You better not because that would mean you never get around to asking him, pumpkin,” Magnus chided lightly, brushing a strand of red-dyed hair out of his eyes before taking another sip of his champagne, gaze easily finding the dancing form of his husband in the crowd as if Alec was like a magnet who drew him in without fail.

“You’re so smitten, it’s almost disgusting,” Raphael commented but the grin hurting his cheeks made it pretty clear that he wasn’t serious.

“Says the one making heart-eyes at his boyfriend all evening,” Magnus shot back in a heartbeat and actually stuck his tongue out at Raphael. It was a little difficult to imagine that Magnus was a grown up, a married man, when he still reverted to acting like a spoilt brat around Raphael, especially with a few drops of alcohol down his throat.

“How would you even know, you’ve been glued to your better half for the whole day—body and eyes alike.”

“I didn’t have to watch you two lovebirds to know that,” his best friend laughed, gulping down the rest of his champagne before discarding the empty glass in the tray of a waiter that walked past them. “And I was actually serious that you should consider proposing to him. You two are adorable together and you already act like a married couple anyway.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you just want to organise another wedding?” Raphael laughed, though he knew that wasn’t the only reason behind Magnus’s suggestion it was definitely part of it, that much was sure.

“I can’t deny that I wouldn’t mind the opportunity,” his best friend admitted with an amused grin tugging at the corners of his mouth and he reached out to curl his fingers around Raphael’s upper arm to pull him into a slightly alcohol-clumsy, one-armed hug. “I might still not quite understand what you see in this clumsy, nerdy boy but he makes you happy and I like happy-Raphael so you two have my blessing, it what I wanted to say.”

Raphael rolled his eyes fondly—as if he needed Magnus’s permission—but he still leant a little further into the other’s side and even wrapped his arm around his best friend’s middle to return the mildly awkward hug. He had to admit that it was kind of sweet that Magnus wanted him to get married as well and it wasn’t like Raphael hadn’t thought of it, especially since Alec and Magnus had started planning their wedding but he honestly wasn’t sure if now was the right time.

Simon was still a student and Raphael was still working as a barista, though he had started an internship at a law-firm a few weeks ago to figure out what his next career step would be and he thought dabbing into different workplaces to maybe figure out the right path before applying for apprenticeships seemed like the best idea. He didn’t mind staying a barista for a while longer until he found something suitable.

“Here you are!”

Raphael had just been freed from Magnus’s spontaneous hug when two arms looped around him from behind and he would have probably pushed the person away or instinctively thrust his elbows back if the touch hadn’t been so familiar and wasn’t accompanied by the slurred sound of Simon’s voice.

“I was looking for you everywhere,” Simon whined while hooking his chin over Raphael’s shoulder, brushing the tip of his nose against the side of his lover’s neck and causing goose bumps in the process.

“I’m right where I was when you wandered off to do whatever it is you did. Getting drunker, apparently,” Raphael replied and his attempt at sounding scolding was ruined by the amused huff stealing it’s way out of his throat. It was impossible to even pretend to disapprove of his boyfriend’s current state, not only because this was a wedding celebration but because Simon was oddly adorable when the words tumbled off his tongue even clumsier than usual and he became all clingy and mushy.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true.”

Raphael rolled his eyes and did move his elbow backwards now, only to softly nudge it against Simon’s ribs and make him flinch but his lover’s arms only tightened their grip around him, the heat from his hands radiating through the thin material of Raphael’s dress shirt where they were pressed against his stomach.

“I think I’ll leave you two to it—I need to get back to my own man anyway,” Magnus decided with barely hidden fondness in his voice and he winked at Raphael before sauntering off in the direction of the dance floor to shoo Isabelle away from her brother so that he could wrap his arms around Alec’s neck.

Raphael watched, only for a moment, how his best friend leant into his now-husband and their lips met in a kiss so tender and loving that it almost felt too private to watch. His chest tightened a little bit, mostly due to the fact that he couldn’t help but try to imagine that being him and Simon during their wedding day and he silently cursed Magnus for dragging this even further into his thoughts than it already had been these days.

“You okay?” Simon mumbled against Raphael’s neck where he had chosen to bury his face, fingertips digging into his shirt a little further. He felt like a wall of heat pressed against Raphael’s back and he melted into the touch, despite all the people around who were able to see their affectionate moment.

“Yeah, I’m good. A little exhausted but it was an amazing day. Alec really is the perfect fit for him and Magnus deserves all the happiness in the world—but don’t tell him I said that!”

Simon’s breath tickled his skin when he started giggling at that exclamation and Raphael automatically thought that, yes, he was definitely closing in on the decision to take the next, more serious step in their relationship. Not today, not next week but maybe soon.

This ridiculous boy, drunk and clingy as he was right now, was the person Raphael wanted to spend as much time with as possible and he wasn’t going as far as to say that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Simon but...that was the painfully cheesy truth of the matter.


End file.
